"I am but a simple purveyor of words. A story teller one might say. For the right number of coins, I shall create you a world of your very own, where you will be hailed as its hero, its ruler….its god. Cross me, however, and you shall be cast down as its villain, the lowest of creatures. Your final fate will be most befitting…and unfortunate." - Michael L. Turner

Friday, October 11, 2013

Ian Wilson is the main character in Deception Peak. Once you
read how I came up with him, you’ll know a little bit about the story. Just
read on and see…

Writing a novel is like putting the pieces of a
puzzle together and the most difficult part is the beginning. If you’re like me
you’ll take the border pieces and fit them together first because they’re the
easiest to find. They have flat edges and they frame everything in. Once you
have them in place you can pretty much group the other pieces by color,
patterns and design and get an estimate of where they might fit in the picture.

A novel is pieced together much in the same way. You
have to find the framework. I’ve heard this framework called a plumb line, and
other people call it a premise.Basically, you have to ask yourself the question…what is this story
going to be about?

The way I work, before I can think about who is going
to be in the story, I need to know something about the story.

Deception
Peak is about the
adventures of a boy who is faced with the impossible task of removing a dragon
from a magical world.

There is the framework.

Now that I have the premise, I see that there are at
least three things that have to be created in my story: i.e. the dragon, the
magical world, and the boy.

Now everyone knows that novels need conflict and
tension otherwise we’d have nothing more than a boring piece of text sounding
much like the diary I wrote when I was younger.

Dear Diary,
nothing happened today.

Here
are a few things I took into consideration while creating my main character.

·In order for the story to have a lot of tension, I
knew I couldn’t make the boy a super hero. It’d be too easy. One fight and
wham, you’re out.

·The boy had to come from some place other than the
magical world because I wanted to put some adventure in the story, some
wonders.

·I also wanted to have a boy that my readers can
relate to. A typical teen. No one special.

·Other tension creating dynamics would be a
personality that isn’t used to taking on odd obstacles in his life, like a
dragon.

·Someone who doesn’t ordinarily take risks.

·A homebody who doesn’t normally go traveling into
strange worlds.

·A boy who needs to grow up.

For those who have read Deception Peak, do you see an Ian Wilson
taking shape here?

Ian needed to be different physically too, just to
make things harder for him! And since all the tribes I was creating in the
Realm were based on the physical characteristics of Scandinavian people, Ian
needed to be dark and I chose a young lad with dark bushy hair, Hispanic in
heritage, on his mom’s side.

Ah! I knew just the boy to pose for young Ian’s
illustration--the son of a friend of my daughters’. He was thrilled and was
even invited to play the part of Ian in the first book trailer.

By
the time I figured out who my main character was, I also created some of the
plot line, the events, and the relationships. It was a fun process!

Topping Amazon's Paid Best Sellers list in children's
Sword and Sorcery
Nominated for The Endeavor Award 2012
"Within seconds, the light show vanished and Ian opened one eye. What he
had experienced was not at all what he had expected. No unusual sensations
fizzled through his body. He hadn't felt like he was plummeting in an elevator,
or blasting through space like in a rocket ship. It didn't even feel like he
might be racing down an escape chute on an airplane. No jet sounds, or hums, or
buzzes, rattled in his ears."

And so young Ian Wilson enters the Realm.

The first book of a trilogy, Deception Peak is
a young adult adventure fantasy about a teenager, Ian Wilson, who follows his
father through a portal that magically appears on their computer screen. They
travel into a deceptively beautiful Realm, where horses run free, the wind
sings prophetic melodies, and their computer avatars come to life.

But when the two are separated, Ian is abducted by a tribe
of dragon worshipers and is forced to find his courage. As he struggles for his
freedom and embarks on a perilous search to find his father, Ian meets the true
peacekeepers of the Realm. It's then that he learns there is a greater purpose
for being there.

Book 2 and 3 The Dragon Shield and Rubies and
Robbers are available now!

If you enjoy dragons, sorcery, wizards, magic, legend,
and fantasy adventure, than this series is for you!

Dianne Gardner,
an award winning author, is also an illustrator living in the Pacific
Northwest, USA. She's an active member of the Society of Children's Book
Writers and Illustrators, and the National League of American Pen Women.She is author to The Ian’s Realm Saga, Tales
of the Four Wizards and is currently writing a screenplay of her fourth book Cassandra’s
Castle all published by PDMI publishing.

You can see more of Dianne’s work on her website
http://gardnersart.com

Saturday, October 5, 2013

The old fears are always with
us.They were there at the beginning,
and they will follow us to the end.You
know what I am speaking of.I see it in
your eyes, and you see it too whenever you look in the mirror.You have hidden the memories well as you’ve aged, but a younger part of you
remembers.Thoughts that have been ignored for too long are now screaming to be heard.

You know what you saw.It was the shadows that hid in the corners of
your room, that noise under the bed, the persistent tap at the window, and that
thing in your closest.In these places
they waited, they listened, and they watched.You were right to fear them, but then came the lie with its warm caring
smile.

“There is nothing there.You only imagined it,” both your parents
said.“Go back to bed.It was just a bad dream.”

How many have been blinded by
such comforting words, and were they truly comforting?Those dismissive words echo in the dark
places.The intrusion by those who dwell
in the shadows has been pardoned.The child
is sent back to bed.The young one
will repeat the lie to them self, and tries to forget.The watchers and listeners are pleased.They won’t be rushed, and their time can now
be taken.